Key facts for NCD 20.31.3
- Benefit category
- Intensive Cardiac Rehabilitation Program
- Effective date
- 05/06/2014
- Implemented 11/04/2014
- Transmittal
- Transmittal 175
- Versions published
- 1
- Manual chapter
- 20
- NCD Manual (Pub. 100-03)
TL;DR
NCD 20.31.3 sets Medicare's national policy for benson-henry institute cardiac wellness program under the benefit category "Intensive Cardiac Rehabilitation Program", effective 05/06/2014 and implemented 11/04/2014. Effective for claims with dates of service on and after May 6, 2014, the Benson-Henry Institute Cardiac Wellness Program meets the Intensive Cardiac Rehabilitation (ICR) program requirements set forth by Congress in §1861(eee)(4)(A) of the Social Security… It has been revised once since publication and binds every Medicare Administrative Contractor nationally.
Item or service described
A. General
The fundamental concepts of the Benson-Henry Institute Cardiac Wellness Program were developed by Herbert Benson, MD, over 40 years ago. Benson states that “in the middle 1960s, when I noticed that people’s blood pressures were higher during visits to my office than at other times and wondered whether stress wasn’t causing that rise. Stress wasn’t on the radar then, so I began investigating a connection between stress and hypertension.” (http://www.ideafit.com/fitness-library/mind-body-medicine-balanced-approach) The Cardiac Wellness Program is a multi-component intervention program that includes supervised exercise, behavioral interventions, and counseling, and is designed to reduce cardiovascular risk and improve health outcomes.
Indications and limitations of coverage
B. Nationally Covered Indications
Effective for claims with dates of service on and after May 6, 2014, the Benson-Henry Institute Cardiac Wellness Program meets the Intensive Cardiac Rehabilitation (ICR) program requirements set forth by Congress in §1861(eee)(4)(A) of the Social Security Act, and in regulations at 42 C.F.R. §410.49(c) and, as such, has been included on the list of approved ICR programs available at http://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Medicare-General-Information/MedicareApprovedFacilitie/ .
C. Nationally Non-Covered Indications
Effective May 6, 2014, if a specific ICR program is not included on the above-noted list as a Medicare-approved ICR program, it is non-covered.
D. Other
N/A
(This NCD last reviewed May 6, 2014.)
Text reproduced from the CMS Medicare Coverage Database record for NCD 20.31.3 version 1. View the original on cms.gov.
Revision history
01/2024 - Transmittal 12318 issued October 19, 2023, is being rescinded and replaced by Transmittal 12441, dated January 3, 2024, to add FISS to BR 13390.11 and to add clarifying verbiage to business requirement 13390.12. All other information remains the same. ( TN 12441 ) (CR13390)
10/2023 - The purpose of this Change Request (CR) is to provide a quarterly maintenance update of ICD-10 coding conversions and other coding updates specific to National Coverage Determinations (NCDs). No policy is being changed as a result of these updates. ( TN 12318 ) (CR13390)
08/2022 - Transmittal 11545 dated August 5, 2022, is being rescinded and replaced by Transmittal 11584, dated, August 31, 2022. ( TN 11584 ) (CR12822)
08/2022 - The purpose of this Change Request (CR) is to provide a maintenance update of ICD-10 conversions and other coding updates to specific NCDs. ( TN 11545 ) (CR12822)
06/2022 - Transmittal 11400, dated May 4, 2022, is being rescinded and replaced by Transmittal 11460, dated, June 17, 2022, to update NCD 90.2, NGS, spreadsheet to conform with changes in CR 12124, and change the implementation date for all business requirements except 12705.6 to 30 days from issuance of this correction. All other information remains the same.( TN 11460 ) (CR12705)
05/2022 - This Change Request (CR) constitutes a maintenance update of ICD-10 conversions and other coding updates specific to NCDs. These NCD coding changes are the result of newly available codes, coding revisions to NCDs released separately, or coding feedback received. ( TN 11400 ) (CR12705)
01/2022 - Transmittal 11068, dated October 21, 2021, is being rescinded and replaced by Transmittal 11179, dated, January 12, 2022 to revise the attachment for NCD 110.24, CAR-T, to add business requirement 12480.10.1 by adding generic unspecified procedure codes, to clarify coverage and claims processing in the policy section and to review the implementation date. All other information remains the same. ( TN 11179 ) (CR12480)
10/2021 - This Change Request (CR) constitutes a maintenance update of ICD-10 conversions and other coding updates specific to NCDs. These NCD coding changes are the result of newly available codes, coding revisions to NCDs released separately, or coding feedback received. ( TN 11068 ) (CR12480)
05/2019 - This Change Request (CR) constitutes a maintenance update of ICD-10 conversions and other coding updates specific to NCDs. These NCD coding changes are the result of newly available codes, coding revisions to NCDs released separately, or coding feedback received.
Previous NCD coding changes appear in ICD-10 quarterly updates that can be found at https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Coverage/CoverageGenInfo/ICD10.html , along with other CRs implementing new policy NCDs. Edits to ICD-10 and other coding updates specific to NCDs will be included in subsequent quarterly releases and individual CRs as appropriate. No policy-related changes are included with the ICD-10 quarterly updates. Any policy-related changes to NCDs continue to be implemented via the current, long-standing NCD process.( TN 2298 ) (CR11229)
05/2017 - This change request (CR) constitutes a maintenance update of ICD-10 conversions and other coding updates specific to national coverage determinations (NCDs). These NCD coding changes are the result of newly available codes, coding revisions to NCDs released separately, or coding feedback received.
Previous NCD coding changes appear in ICD-10 quarterly updates that can be found at: https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Coverage/CoverageGenInfo/ICD10.html , along with other CRs implementing new policy NCDs. Edits to ICD-10 and other coding updates specific to NCDs will be included in subsequent, quarterly releases and individual CRs as appropriate. No policy-related changes are included with the ICD-10 quarterly updates. Any policy-related changes to NCDs continue to be implemented via the current, long-standing NCD process. ( TN 1854 ) (CR10086)
02/2017 - This change request (CR) is the 11th maintenance update of ICD-10 conversions and other coding updates specific to national coverage determinations (NCDs). These NCD coding changes are the result of newly available codes, coding revisions to NCDs released separately, or coding feedback received.
Previous NCD coding changes appear in ICD-10 quarterly updates as follows: CR7818, CR8109, CR8197, CR8691, CR9087, CR9252, CR9540, CR9631, CR9751, and CR9861, as well as in CRs implementing new policy NCDs. Edits to ICD-10 and other coding updates specific to NCDs will be included in subsequent, quarterly releases and individual CRs as appropriate. No policy-related changes are included with the ICD-10 quarterly updates. Any policy-related changes to NCDs continue to be implemented via the current, long-standing NCD process. ( TN 1798 ) (CR9982)
10/2014 - Effective for dates of service on and after May 6, 2014, Medicare determined that the evidence is sufficient to expand the ICR benefit to include the Benson-Henry Institute Cardiac Wellness Program. Implementation date: 11/04/2014. ( TN 175 ) (CR 8894)
How this NCD shows up on remittances
A service denied under a National Coverage Determination returns CARC 50 (not deemed medically necessary) with remark N386 (decision based on an NCD); a denial citing a local policy instead carries N115. Because NCDs bind nationally, the appeal path is documentation that the patient meets the indications above, not a contractor-policy argument.
How QuickIntell applies NCD 20.31.3
QuickAuth checks the ordered service and diagnosis against NCD and LCD criteria before the encounter, QuickCode validates the diagnosis pairing on the claim, and QuickRCM routes CARC 50 denials with the policy text and the covered-code list attached so the appeal starts with evidence.
Frequently asked questions — NCD 20.31.3
What does NCD 20.31.3 cover?
Effective for claims with dates of service on and after May 6, 2014, the Benson-Henry Institute Cardiac Wellness Program meets the Intensive Cardiac Rehabilitation (ICR) program requirements set forth by Congress in §1861(eee)(4)(A) of the Social Security Act, and in regulations at 42 C.F.R. §410.49(c) and, as such, has been included on the list of approved ICR programs available at… The full indications and limitations are reproduced on this page from the CMS Medicare Coverage Database.
When did NCD 20.31.3 take effect?
The current version (1) is effective 05/06/2014, implemented 11/04/2014, published in transmittal 175. This is the only published version.
Does a Local Coverage Determination override NCD 20.31.3?
No. A National Coverage Determination binds all Medicare Administrative Contractors; an LCD can only address services or circumstances the NCD leaves open. Claims denied under this NCD typically return CARC 50 with remark N386 (NCD) rather than N115 (LCD).
Sources
Every figure on this page is taken from the CMS publications below, as released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Projection built 2026-10-02. Verify against the primary file before billing or contracting decisions.
- Medicare Coverage Database NCDs via the CMS Coverage APIVersion API snapshot 2026-09-27 · effective 2026-09-20 · file national-coverage-ncd.jsonSHA-256 a90fadfd264b9ef4…
Disclaimer
This page reproduces the CMS National Coverage Determination text and, for laboratory NCDs, the CMS ICD-10 edit lists, as an operational reference. Coverage decisions depend on the full policy, the claim and the contractor; nothing here is legal, clinical or billing advice. CPT codes are shown as numbers only; CPT descriptors are copyright AMA.